In Kenya, Dudley Hawkins, a former newspaper editor, happened to live next door to Jasper Maskelyne in the 1960s. Hawkins realised that Maskelyne’s adventures were potential Hollywood material. He interviewed Maskelyne in depth and forwarded the tape recordings to Twentieth Century Fox in 1966. Hawkins later wrote:”Where there is a wealth of material to be prepared for a third party from a subject who has to recall incidents from memory, and not from written records, a tape recording is by far the best means of establishing a basis on which to work. The memories extended over a period from childhood to 1945. It was from these tapes that the writers were able to visualise the shape any screenplay might take and the tapes formed the basis of the subsequent correspondence.”“A rough idea of a plot was submitted incorporating the idea of ‘a falling star’ and correspondence from the writers was enthusiastic.”

Opposite is a rare photo of Maskelyne attending a function in Nairobi.Previous / Next